[--Drabble--] Bonds reunited.

((I'm tired, had a few drinks and blah! So, wrote some crap--which, reading back, is crud LOL}}
But, insight to the relationship Alicia did have back in England before she fled to USA. One of the main reasons she is single and refuses to love again, for her heart is tied to the one she needs to let go of, for her own good.

[REUNITED IN LOVE AND PAIN]
Christmas dinner, brining the broken ones together once more.
3

We all hope that Christmas would go smoothly for us, tough none more so than Alicia for she had spent the last three either burning the turkey, or getting so damn wasted she went home in a cop car or woke up in a field of some sort. Not that she was an alcoholic or anything but, she tended to drink more that she knew she could handle, blotting out the past she tried to hard to forget, yet somehow was haunted by on a daily basis. All she had to do this time was to fight the battles, watch the turkey and try to enjoy those few she had around her, if she can that is.

”Hurry up, I’ve had this turkey cooking for hours, I think it may actually be double dead now that we wont be able to eat it” pulling said turkey free from the over, juices all around it she simply shrugged as phone remained wedged between left ear and shoulder.

*Look, I am nearly there, just get everything dished up for us both and I will grab some wine, or vodka.. see which comes to eye first* he chuckled, cutting the call off and leaving Alicia to grumble about it. One thing he did knowingly to piss her off, despite the fact she was best known for cutting calls off to anyone and everyone. With that thought and another chuckle he bought a bottle of vodka, holding it in it’s brown paper bag which was now scrunched around the neck of the bottle, he had made his way to the red door that would allow him into her small apartment

Thing was, she had already drunk the entire bottle of red wine she had planned to share with him, purely for the fact that she needed Dutch courage when it came to seeing Mike, even if this was only for a Christmas dinner. Reason being was that there relationship had always been rocky, more so since they had split up just a few weeks ago and decided to remain friends, ones with benefits of course which many would and had moaned at her about. Still, Alicia had once loved him very much, still did but, the violence of said relationship had finally been pushed to breaking point when he was arrested three weeks ago for assault.

/--We all know that it’s one thing to escape an abusive partner, but to remain away from them when your heart still longed for their touch, their love and their affection was another thing. One that Alicia couldn’t.--/

”You took your time” she teased, taking the bottle from him and swaying a little towards the kitchen, Mike following closely behind to make sure she didn’t tumble, more so for that fact he’d rather not have a £15 bottle of voddy smash upon the floor. Obviously there was care for his ex but, all the same he could see she had already been drinking and wanted to keep it calm, therefore refraining from mentioning anything he simply moved past her to sit upon one of the chairs at the table. *So, dinner ready then it it, and it don’t smell burnt babe so why don’t we have something to eat before we get drinking?*. His words alarmed her, why the f*** was he being so damn nice when the last year she was ‘stuck’ with him he had beaten her, degraded her and even gone so far as to attack her out in a public high street.

Then, she turned.

”Where were you last night?” she spat, eyes narrowing as she began placing the food upon their plates, fire burning deep in the pit of her stomach before finally placing two blue plates full of turkey, potatoes along with many other delights that you would find on a Christmas dinner. Her eyes however had never left him, not even while she sat and poured hot gravy upon her food, uncaring that some had spilled onto her white tablecloth. This is when he stood, leaned over and snatched the jug from her, teeth gritted she returned her words with a snap, *what do you think I was f***ing doing, Ali?. Come on, why does it matter? You made yourself pretty f***ing clear 3 weeks ago when you got me banged up and threw all of my stuff out”.

For some reason his words had calmed her, she could see and feel the pain inside of him. Maybe she had made a mistake, maybe he just needed help, guidance and to be shown the love that his parents clearly hadn’t. It caused a whole shamble of emotions to stir inside that she found herself pretty much at a loss of word as she began to pour them a glass of neat vodka each, hands shaking throughout the whole action. “Look, you hurt me.” She sighed, tears threatening to fall as she pushed a hand forth, small digits almost walking upon his knuckles before own pain would then rest up his equally shaking hand. “What if we tried once more” she smiles, this time a smile of pure love and devotion, not one of the alcoholic she had somewhat become to be known as. Inside she loved him, inside she needed him but her mind was worried, scared, terrified even that one day he would hurt her again.

Bruises fade, words fade but the pain that etches itself inside her heart never once seemed to fade. They had broken each other over time, pushed each other to places that neither one of them thought they could ever get too, yet they did and it would always end with a man in uniform at their door, or the pain crumbled on the floor in a mess of tears and pain.

*Start fresh, babe is this really what you want?*, his blue orbs danced with her emerald hues as they remained in silence, the food going cold as it sat upon their plates waiting to be devoured. “I’m one hundred percent sure”, soft words left lips as those tears fell down, smothering her porcelain skin which had now become red with the heat of the room. “I have never been more sure of anything in my life, let’s do it and work at it, work at it so hard that we can get it back to when we first met”, the very thought alone almost caused Mike to spill his own tears, yet being a man he was strong enough to keep them back, least while he was around her anyway,

*I love you my Ali-Cat, you know? I always have and always will*

”I love you too, I can’t imagine a life without you, I know we have a lot to work on and, I’m determined to do whatever it takes” sipping at her vodka with her free hand she understood that the first thing she needed to do was cut down on the drink. But inside she didn’t believe she could, for she had become so dependant on it that without it she feared she would be a shell of the strong, ‘aggressive’ and protective woman of herself that she had become.

Was this ‘really’ the wisest decision they would have ever made?
Time will tell.